True Story Bro
by small sin
Summary: The gaang started off with one more person, and she's not quite what you think. The title will probably not make anymore sense when the story is completed. Will be M in the future.
1. Chapter 1

The late afternoon air was brisk and chilly as I sat in the boat. A couple days ago Sokka had tricked me into coming along with him and Katara on their little fishing trip and sadly today was not one of their 'lets get along' days.

"You know, not that I don't love you guys, but remind me why I'm here again?" I asked just to break the silence. Sokka snorted with his eyes still on the water.

"That would be because you don't have anything better to do." He replied in a snotty tone before flashing a smile my way to show he was kidding. "Think of it this way Neela, if you had to stay in the village without me you would complain about how bored you were because no one would talk to you."

I gaped in indignation and huffily replied, "That is so not true, I could have stayed with Katara. Right Katara?" I glanced back to see her nodding thoughtfully.

"She's right Sokka, besides aren't you the one that's always saying you catch more fish when you're alone? Why are we here anyway?" Katara asked, not noticing how Sokka deflated as she spoke.

"Can't a guy want to spend the day with his two best girls?" He whined loudly with a blush that threatened to take over his whole face. Laughing I hugged him from behind.

"Aww Sokka, aren't you just the sweetest?" I joked while watching him get all flustered. Suddenly Katara leaned over the boat and yelled, "Look Sokka! Fish!" causing Sokka to jump and look around the water again.

"AHA! You're not gonna get away from me this time." He stared intently at the water.

Laughing quietly, I leaned back and allowed myself to get comfortable. This is the only reason I ever let Sokka convince me to come fishing-to see him fail spectacularly. First he gets all intent, like he is right now, stalking his prey. Then he raises his weapon comically slowly, and that's usually when-

"Look Sokka!" Katara exclaimed, "Look, I caught one!"

"Shhh Katara." He whispered, "You're going to scare it away."

I glanced over at Katara just in time to see Sokka's spear to burst her little water bubble, all over us. I squealed, but couldn't control my laughter.

"Why is it that every time _you_ play with magic water _I_ get soaked?" Sokka asked rudely. My laughter died away as I quickly predicted what was about to happen next.

"Uh guys-" I started nervously but was cut off by Katara.

"Ugh it's not magic, it's water bending. And it's-" She started but Sokka interrupted _her._

"Yeah, yeah. An ancient art unique to our culture blah, blah. Look, I'm just saying if I had weird powers I'd keep my weirdness to myself."

"Sokka!" I smacked him on the shoulder.

"You're calling me weird?" Katara asked, ignoring me. "I'm not the one who makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water." She said smugly as Sokka was doing just that. Abruptly our small boat crashed into a little ice in the water and jolted us from the argument. The ice we crashed against started us down a fast current that lead to even more large pieces of ice. Sokka quickly took control of the paddle while Katara tried to map our way through the ice. This reminded me of a scarier, smaller version of ice dodging.

"Sokka?" I asked nervously, grabbing onto the sides of the small boat.

"Hold on tight, both of you." He called back to us.

"Sokka go left!" Katara called out, seeing a calmer current. Sokka started heading that way but in the end the current won out forcing us to collide with two large pieces of ice at once. We were tossed out, screaming the whole way. Landing with a thud on a rather large piece of ice, I collected myself and tried to stop shaking. Sokka, who had landed on top of me pushed off and looked us both over, silently making sure we were alright.

"You call that left?" Katara asked sounding _just_ like her brother. Slapping my forehead I prepared myself for the next sibling argument.

"You don't like my steering, well; maybe you should have _water bended_ us out of the way." Sokka bit back sarcastically.

"So it's my fault?" She asked angrily.

"I knew I should have come alone. Leave it to a girl to screw things up." He said, not looking at either of us. I officially sat back and let Katara verbally abuse him since that one was out of line. I watched Katara get angrier and angrier before she finally exploded.

"You are the most sexist, immature, nut brained-ugh! I'm embarrassed to be related to you!" She flailed her arms angrily. In the distance a cracking sound formed but this was too good to look away from. Sokka even seemed to look like he was sorry or scared really. "Ever since mom died," she continued "I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been out playing _soldier_." She accused.

With more flailing and a larger cracking sound I finally looked up and saw what Sokka must have been seeing. An ice berg was slowly coming apart, and it seemed Katara was spurring it on.

"Uh, Katara?" Sokka tried in a small voice.

"I even wash all the clothes," she carried on indignantly, "Do you even know how smelly your socks are? Not pleasant!" She flailed again, causing the biggest cracking noise yet. I got up and got ready to grab her and run if it fell.

"Katara settle down." I said in my best warning voice.

"NO. That's it! I'm done helping you. From now on you're on your own!"

And with that the glacier burst open. Grabbing Katara, I shoved her back down on the ice and grabbed onto the side of it with the arm that wasn't holding her. Sokka next to me was looking around trying to see if we were in any real danger. Other than a small wave we were fine. After a second I relaxed and let out the breath I had been holding.

"Okay, you've gone from weird to freakish." Sokka accused Katara.

"Sokka!" I yelled at him. "That's it! Both of you."

They both looked at me guiltily for a second before we were all distracted by something glowing in the water. Freaking out I stood up, noticing them do the same. A giant round, glowing, ice berg thing emerged from the water. There was a human like shape in the middle that seemed to be the source of the glow. Looking closer it looked like a young boy. Suddenly his eyes opened and the glowing got even more intense.

"He's alive. We have to help." Katara said determined, taking her brothers club from his back.

"Katara, get back here." He said frantically. "We don't know what that thing is."

We had to run to catch up with her, jumping from ice block to ice block in the water until we reached the giant glowing thing. Immediately she began beating at the ice, trying to save the little boy or whatever it is. One particularly hard blow to the ice and it broke open releasing air pressure that blew us off our feet. A strange glowing beam of light shot straight up as Sokka grabbed hold of Katara and I. slowly the boy-thing walked out, the glow receding before he promptly passed out. Katara leaped forward to catch him while Sokka decided to poke his head with the back side of his staff. Stifling my laughter I dragged his arm away from the kid.

Nodding thankfully to me, Katara then gently set him down and watched as he began to stir. His eyes finally shot open with a gasp, "I need to ask you something." He said to Katara.

"Okay?" She asked trustingly.

_That girl trusts way too easily _I thought unhappily.

"Please, come closer." He asked with his voice raw from disuse.

"What is it?" she asked while coming closer.

_We're going to have a little talk about stranger danger when we get back to the village_ I thought.

"Will you go penguin sledding with me?" He asked cheerfully, his voice apparently normal again. Everyone blinked collectively. _That _was the last thing anybody expected to hear the kid say.

"Uh, sure, I guess." She said, probably questioning his sanity.

I gaped at him, "Really? You come out of an iceberg and that's what you want to ask?" Was this guy for real?

The kid seemed to just float up to a standing position and Sokka stumbled back.

"What's going on here?" The kid finally asks.

"You tell us," Sokka said angrily, "how'd you get in the ice? And why aren't you frozen?" He asked, poking the kid again. The kid lazily waved the staff away,

"I'm not sure," he said before gasping suddenly and climbing over the ice. We shared a look before walking around it. "Appa, are you alright?" Was all the warning we got before we turned the corner. _Who's Appa?_ I wondered.

He was apparently talking to the giant furry thing with a huge saddle. Okay, now I'm seeing things.

"Wake up buddy," The kid told it before jabbing at its mouth until it woke up with a groan. "You're okay!" He laughed. I rubbed my eyes a few times in disbelief. This thing was _huge_.

"What is that thing?" Sokka asked.

"This is Appa, my flying bison." The kid chirped happily.

"Right…and this is Katara," He gestured to his left, "my flying sister."

Appa started growling and twitching, and I backed away from Sokka knowing he would be the target of some unexpected catastrophe that I did not want to be next to. I was proven right about three seconds later when the bison sneezed all over him. I couldn't hold my laughter in as Sokka dropped to the ground and tried to wipe the snot off himself while making these grossed out noises.

"Don't worry" the kid said nicely, "it'll wash out. So do you guys live around here?"

"Don't answer that," Sokka demanded, pointing his staff at the kid. "Did you see that crazy bolt of light? He was probably trying to signal the fire navy."

"Sokka, you're being paranoid again." I told him gently, even if a little unsurely. The kid _seemed_ harmless.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure he's a spy for the fire navy, you can tell by that _evil_ look in his eye." Katara said while getting in between the two. The kid smiled at that. "The paranoid one is my brother Sokka, and that's Neela. You never told us your name."

"I'm ah-ah-ah-ugh-ah-uh-ACHOOO!" He sneezed and shot up in the air. Once back down on the ground he smiled, "I'm Aang." He sniffled.

I gaped at him, pointing from him to where he was at least fifteen feet up.

"You just sneezed. And flew ten feet up in the air," Sokka pointed in disbelief.

"Really? Felt higher than that." He questioned. I silently agreed with him._ But hey what do I know?_

Katara gasped, "You're an air bender!"

"Sure am." He nodded, like that was something you see every day.

"Giant light beams; flying bison, air benders…I think I got midnight sun madness. I'm going home to where stuff makes sense." Sokka complained. He turned around dramatically and walked to the edge of the ice berg only to stop and stare at the water.

"Hey Sokka, did you forget that you crashed your boat?" I asked innocently.

"It was a canoe. And yes." He groaned.

"Well if you guys are stuck," the kid started, "Appa and I can give you a lift." He offered while air bending to the bison's reigns.

"We'd love a ride. Thanks!" Katara spoke for all of us. I gave her the evil eye as she rushed off to the bison. _Yes, we'll definitely have a little talk once we're back home._

"Oh no, I am not getting on that fluffy snot monster." Sokka refused.

Katara laughed smugly, "Are you hoping some other monster will come along and give you a ride home? You know, before you freeze to death?"

Sokka opened his mouth to argue but then thought better of it for once and gave in. He looked to me, but I was eyeing the bison skeptically. It seemed to be eyeing me back.

"Neela, are you okay with this?" He asked concerned.

"It doesn't look like we have a choice." I told him sadly. We walked to the furry monster of doom and Sokka climbed up first so he could help me up. Sitting on the back of the saddle, I sat uncomfortably between the siblings yet again. Katara, as always, was the picture of childhood joy. Sokka, as always, was the picture of skepticism.

"First time riders hold on tight. Appa yip yip." Aang called back to us. The bison rolled and moved and growled, prepared to take flight and finally jumped up high in the air-and fell back into the icy water.

"Wow… that was truly amazing." Sokka deadpanned as Aang tried to get Appa to fly. Katara shot him a nasty look and moved over to Aang. Taking advantage of the extra space, Sokka spread out. Moving me like a rag doll, as always, to between his legs, he settled us so we could both get warm and I could take a small nap on the three hour trip back home.

"Appa's just tired." Aang insisted, "Let him get a little sleep and he'll be soaring through the sky, you'll see." He informed us. Then he stared at Katara with a small little smile on his face.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?"

He deflated and spluttered, "Oh I was smiling?" He asked sincerely which made Katara smile again and Sokka to groan into my hair. I laughed and closed my eyes, not willing to pass up any kind of sleep. Slowly the world drifted off with only the sound of Sokka's steady breathing in my ear.

I woke up to the sun shining in my face. I rolled over with a groan and scrunched my eyes shut as hard as I could.

"Wakey wakey princess." Sokka cut through the silence quietly.

"NO." I grumbled, pulling the sheets over my head.

"I've got fooooood." He persuaded.

I looked out cautiously to see him kneeling beside me with his hands behind his back. "What kind of food?"

"Good food." He pulled out my favorite breakfast but kept it out of reach. My eyes lit up and I nodded excitedly. "Thought so." He said smugly before turning away so he could set up breakfast while I threw on some over clothes.

I stuck my toe out of the covers to make sure it wasn't too cold and was happy to see that it was even warmer than usual. Getting up I threw on my pants and coat while wondering, "Did I sleep in?"

Sokka turned around when he was finished placing the food and began eating with a nod. "Yeah, you never sleep well so I decided not to wake you up. I took care of your morning chores with the ladies so don't worry about that."

"Thanks Sokka, you are amazing. Seriously is it my birthday?" I was kidding…mostly.

"Ha ha." He deadpanned, " No I just really can't remember the last time you slept so well. Besides, that Aang kid took my soldiers from me."

"I was hoping that was a dream." I finally dug into the food and savored every drop.

"Nah. The worst part though is that the whole village just loves the guy. I don't get it."

I gave him a sharp look. "Hey. Rule #1: no talking about the villagers in my tent."

"Sorry." He muttered, "I just don't understand how they can accept a complete _fucking _stranger but they won't…ugh." He trailed of quietly.

"They won't accept one of their own?" I sighed. "Sokka…It's okay. I mean I kind of get it, with the war and everything. Eventually, they'll have to accept me."

We shared the mean silently after that, not really having anything else to say. The silence was broken a few minutes later when a loud whistling sound was heard and shortly followed by a loud boom. Sokka and I shared a look before running outside.

The sky was yellow as we rushed to the southern gate where everyone was standing. In the distance you could just barely make out Aang and Katara.

"What happened?" Sokka asked fiercely. The women of the tribe finally noticed our presence and shifted as far away from me, and by extension, Sokka, as possible.

"The air bender set off that flare." Sokka's gran-gran told him. Sokka was so mad he stopped talking completely and turned to face the two returning with his arms crossed. My breath hitched at the look in his eye, I've never seen him so mad before. I didn't bother to try to calm him down before the two showed up. He's never listened before and he's never given that fuck off vibe before.

Slowly Katara and Aang got here, stopping a few feet away.

"I knew it!" Sokka accused, "You signaled the fire navy with that flare. You're leading them straight to us aren't you?"

"Aang didn't do anything, it was an accident." She told him snappily and Aang nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and well…we boobied right into it." Aang said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Katara you shouldn't have gone on that ship," Their gran-gran scolded, "now we are all in danger."

"Don't blame Katara, I brought her in there." The kid took the blame, starting to realize how bad this was. "It's my fault."

He hung his head and Sokka jumped in, "AHA the traitor confesses! Warriors away from the enemy, the foreigner is banished from the village."

"Sokka, you're making a mistake!" Katara tried.

"No. I'm keeping my promise to dad. I'm protecting you from threats like him." He said angrily.

"Aang is not our enemy. Don't you see? Aangs brought us something we haven't had in a long time. Fun." Katara argued.

"Fun? We can't fight the fire navy with fun." Sokka wasn't letting up.

"You should try it sometime." Aang said to try and break the tension.

"Get out of our village _now_." Sokka told him, obviously having enough.

"Grandmother please. Don't let Sokka do this."

"Katara you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right, I think it best if the air bender leaves." Her gran-gran told her.

"Fine! Then I'm banished too. Come on Aang, lets go." Katara said dragging him away.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" Sokka asked angrily.

"To find a water bender. Aang is taking me to the north pole." Her voice was shaking now.

"I am? Great." The was confused but completely willing to just take her away.

Sokka groaned. "Katara! Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your own family?"

They stopped, and whispered to each other before Aang got up on Appa to get ready to leave. Katara, I was happy to note, was still on the ground a few feet away. "It was nice meeting everyone." He said nicely.

"Let's see your bison fly _now_ air boy." Sokka said snottily. I touched his elbow gently and shook my head when he looked over to me. He huffed but nodded.

"Come on Appa, you can do it. Yip yip." Appa got up but before he could move Li cried and ran up to Katara.

"Aang don't go. I'll miss you." Li said in the sweetest little voice. It was more than a little heartbreaking as it reminded me of when she said that to her father almost two years ago when he had to leave for the war.

"I'll miss you too." He replied sincerely. Katara and Aang shared a moment and then he was leaving. I went back inside the village as Sokka started shouting orders to the little kids. I went back inside my tent for a quick prayer, the way my mother showed me. I only ever do it inside my tent as the village doesn't like to be reminded that I share my mother's fire nation religion. It's not even fire nation-not really. My mother was part of this fire nation rebellion group and she picked it up there.

Inside the tent, I closed off the entryway and was incased in near darkness. Only the barest of sun filtered through the thickness of the tent and I used that to find my way to the altar. The altar of prayers my mother once called it is a metal stand with three medium sized incense atop it. Once lit, you gather the smoke in your hand and guide it to your face, speaking your prayer aloud. It only took a minute or two and then I was free to go outside and watch over the tribe.

Sitting outside my tent I started sharpening my mother's old weapon. Shaped like a sickle, the sharp blade was made for agility and damage. I had the awful feeling I would need it soon. I watched the villagers as they all seemed to have lost hope already, lifelessly doing chores. And then there was Sokka, strolling through the village like he owned the place. _Well, _I thought, _with him being the oldest male he pretty much does._ He was heading to his little fort but when he saw me he quickly detoured.

"Neela, what are you doing?" He asked with a tired sigh.

"Sharpening my mother's weapon. Just in case." I told him without even looking at him.

"Neela...please look at me." He begged quietly. Reluctantly I looked up. "Look, I know you can swipe the floor with me anyday, but we're talking about fire nation soldiers. Experienced soldiers. Promise me you won't try to fight them. I just couldn't forgive myself if you got hurt." His eyes bore into mine intensely and my heart spluttered. In that moment, with his warpaint on, I could picture the man he will be in a few years.

I nodded slowly. "Sokka I-" The ground shook and out of the late afternoon mist came the massive fire navy ship. Sokka and I took off at a run and met with the villagers as the front opened up and soldiers poured out. I held myself back from running to Sokka as the leader kicked him aside.

The soldiers filed in front of us, their leader coming forward and pacing in front of us.

"Where are you hiding him?" He demanded. He sounded very young and very angry. I wedged myself in between Katara and her grandmother, ready to defend if I needed to. After a moment of intense, if confused, silence his hand shot out and grabbed onto gran gran. Faster than I ever knew I could move my hand shot up and removed his arm from her person.

"Get your grubby little hands _out_ of this village." I told him quietly.

* * *

Well thats chapter one. Let me know If I'm doing ok or if I'm doing poorly. Before I posted this someone told me I use WAY too many comma's when writing so if you notice anything like that seriously just let me know.


	2. Getting Started

**Previously:**

_The soldiers filed in front of us, their leader coming forward and pacing in front of us._

_"Where are you hiding him?" He demanded. He sounded very young and very angry. I wedged myself in between Katara and her grandmother, ready to defend if I needed to. After a moment of intense, if confused, silence his hand shot out and grabbed onto gran gran. Faster than I ever knew I could move my hand shot up and removed his arm from her person._

_"Get your grubby little hands _out_ of this village." I told him quietly._

* * *

His nostrils flared and his hands flexed and with a quick jerk he kicked a suddenly incoming Sokka out of the way again, his eyes never leaving mine. Sokka attacked him again, this time getting his complete attention with a boomerang to the face. Or it would have been had the soldier not dodged it. One of Sokka's little 'warriors' threw him his staff.

"Show no fear." He quoted Sokka. Getting back up Sokka charged at the soldier with a battle cry and was thrown down with three short jabs of the staff's handle on his head. It was actually almost funny. With a glint in the sky the boomerang came back just in time, swiping the pompous idiot in the side of the head. I hid a snort of laughter and tried to look serious but probably just looked constipated. After the soldier gained his composure he collected fire and the base of his fist, like a dagger. That shut me up. I glanced worriedly at Sokka.

Aang, out of nowhere, came up behind the soldier while riding a penguin. He smashed into the back of the soldiers legs causing him to flip over backwards and into the semi circle of his little minion soldiers. They did nothing to help as he slumped there with his helmet on his butt. The kids cheered but Sokka and I shared a look. _What could this kid_ possibly _do?_

"Hey Katara, hey Sokka, hey Neela." He said innocently.

"Hi Aang. Thanks for comin'." Sokka said defeated. I blended back in with everyone else, wondering when I had taken a step forward to begin with.

The soldiers ruined the happy moment by circling Aang. Aang showed off his air bending for a moment before facing the leader. "Looking for me?"

"You're the air bender? You're the avatar?" He asked incredulously.

"Aang?" Katara asked quietly, in a tone I didn't really understand.

"No way." Sokka said to no one. I just stared, not wanting to break the epic tension.

The soldier began circling Aang, "I spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating; _you're just a child_." He said angrily.

"Well, you're just a teenager." Aang said bluntly. _Oh Aang, please don't piss the soldier off._

Abruptly the soldier attacked. With a loud cry Aang blocked the attack with his staff. Soon the soldier started aiming around Aang, forcing him to move quickly around to prevent the fire from reaching the villagers behind him. With every hit the soldier shoved our way the fire got closer and closer. I edged to the middle of the crowd, slipping the kids back behind their mothers and gently pushing people a few steps back. The soldier saw this and in a show of sudden rage he threw two fireballs around Aang, trapping him. If he blocked one, the other would hit the village elder; block the other and I would be hit. Reacting quickly I yelled out to him,

"Aang, go left!"

Obviously trusting me, Aang blocked to his left and allowed me to be a target. At the same time I swiped off my jacket and threw it into the incoming flame. It burst hotter as my jacket caught fire, but the impact stopped it in its tracks and it dispersed a foot away from the villagers behind me. Too close for my liking.

"Wait!" Aang called out sadly, "if I go with you will you promise to leave them alone?" Aang asked in a steely voice.

The soldier nodded slowly and his lackeys grabbed Aang.

"No Aang! Don't do this!" Katara called out to him, but it was too late. Aang was already being shoved to the ship.

"Don't worry Katara, it'll be fine. Take care of Appa for me until I get back." He called back, trying to sound brave.

We watched him all the way until the metal bridge lifted and cut him out of view. Still we were stationary until the misty ocean swallowed the ship. Then, and only then, did Katara run the other way and out of the village. With a sigh Sokka looked me over, silently assessing if I was alright. When he was certain I wasn't burnt from my little stunt he slowly walked over to me and threw his arm over my shoulders to share his body heat. It was at that moment I realized how cold I really was, after all, I only had my thin seal skin tunic on under my jacket. Which might I add, is strictly nightwear. Pulling my hands over my bare midriff, I allowed Sokka to lead me to my tent in silence.

Without looking at me Sokka lit the fire in the middle of the tent and closed the flap to trap the heat in. I walked over to my official day clothes and picked up the thick long sleeved shirt that would have to suffice until I could make a new jacket. Sliding the shirt over my head I felt Sokka come up behind me. Pausing in my actions when I felt his hands on my back, I let him trace the ink pattern there and waited for him to speak.

"That was incredibly stupid Neela." He said after a moment. My breath left me and I closed my eyes.

"Somebody had to do something!" I implored him defiantly, tilting my face in his direction but still not opening my eyes. I didn't want to see his expression.

"But it didn't have to be you. You don't owe them anything, can't you see that?" He asked, removing his hands to pull the shirt the rest of the way down. I finally turned towards him and looked up at him.

"How can you say that? This is your family, your village. You would just let them get hurt?" I asked incredulously. He shook his head and placed his hands on the hem of my shirt, tugging at it while he thought of a way to explain his thoughts.

"You should have let Aang handle it. It looked like he had it under control." He said seriously.

"He's just a kid. You think he could protect the tribe from those soldiers if they _really_ wanted to make a point?" I stopped talking, not really wanting to think about that. Sokka rested his hands on my hips and shook his head with an amused smile.

"Well apparently he's the avatar; he's got to be good for something." He chuckled and I eyed him shrewdly.

"Two hours ago he was the enemy."I accused him but I was smiling too. He shrugged but got serious again.

"He protected us like he was family. He gave up his freedom to save us… Do you trust me?" He asked with the same look in his eye that has gotten me in so much trouble over the years. This searing, imploring look that I would go to the ends of the world for.

"Of course." I said shortly, and waited for him to explain. He stepped back and grabbed my mother's old bag. The only one she brought with her when she first came here.

"Get packing. We're going to save the avatar." With one last smile he was gone. Looking around the tent and my few belongings I allowed a slow smile to creep up on my face. I was leaving.

Meeting up with Sokka just past the village walls I nodded meaningfully to a sullen Katara.

"You didn't tell her yet?" I asked disapprovingly. He shook his head guiltily. Sighing I took the things from his hands, "Go talk to your sister." Settling the meager supplies in the canoe, I turned around just in time to see Katara give Sokka a big old hug.

"Get in." He told her happily. "We're going to save your boyfriend."

"He's not my-" She started angrily.

"Whatever." Sokka cut her off indifferently making me laugh at the two.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Gran gran asked loudly, coming out of nowhere. Sokka and Katara froze but she just pulled out some more supplies. "You'll need these. You have a long journey ahead of you. It's been so long since I've had hope, but you brought it back to life my little water bender." She said with a smile. Turning to Sokka she added, "And you my brave warrior, be nice to your sister." She completely ignored me, and I couldn't be more relieved.

"Yeah, okay grandma." He feigned reluctance and gave her a hug.

"Aang is the avatar, he's the world's only chance. You both found him for a reason and now your destinies are intertwined with his." She finished prophetically. I had to hand it to her, she always could spin a nice little speech.

"There's no way we're going to catch a war ship with a canoe." Katara said unhappily. In the very short distance Appa groaned, as if agreeing with her. "Appa."

"You just love taking me out of my comfort zone, dontcha." Sokka deadpanned as Katara ran over to the bison. I gripped his bicep comfortingly before grabbing the supplies from the canoe.

Minutes later we were perched on Appa's back as he swam through the icy water.

"Go. Fly. Soar." Sokka was saying unhelpfully behind me. Katara spoke a few encouraging words to the bison and I just relaxed back into Sokka's chest, unable to remember a time when this was not happening. "What was it that kid said? Ye ha? Hup hup? Uh…yip yip?"

Appa groaned and slapped his tail in the water with a jolt. I gave a startled yelp as he slowly ascended out of the water. Before we knew it we were airborne.

"You did it Sokka!" Katara squealed happily.

"He's flying! He's flying! Katara he-" He cut off as he looked back into her smug face. I slowly edged to the side of the saddle and looked out at the water. My breath caught in my throat at how beautiful it all was, and how high up we were. For a moment I had the most incredible longing to be able to fly. With a snort I realized I technically was. Looking back over at Sokka spread out at his spot, wearing a mischievous smile and a deadly glint in his eye, I had to smile. _We can do this, I just know it._

We traveled in silence and unease the further we went, hoping that we were on the right path, or at least in the right general direction. Gazing out into the distance, I sat up abruptly and squinted.

"Sokka." I said, hitting him to get his attention.

"Ouch! What'd you do that for? I was looking right at you!" He complained loudly.

"Does that look like smoke to you?" I asked him, completely ignoring his pain. _Well maybe not completely_, I thought with a little smirk.

He squinted too and with a gasp he said, "You're right. Appa, go faster!"

Appa seemed to honor his request and before long we could see the Fire Nation ship, watching eagerly as it got closer. We got there just in time to see Aang being thrown off the side of the ship.

"Aang! No!" Katara yelled frantically before shouting his name again and again. I wrapped my arms around her, but let her get it all out. We stared at the spot he fell and waited with baited breath, hoping and praying that he would somehow pull a miracle out of thin air.

The water bubbled and rushed, reminding me of what happened when the glacier popped out of the water, and then suddenly Aang was riding a huge water made tornado. He was as high in the air as we were and we marveled at the amount of power that must have taken. We watched with baited breath as he struck out with the water and knocked out all of the soldiers but one, who was unfortunate enough to be thrown out of the ship completely.

"Did you see what he just did?" Katara asked incredulously.

"Now _that_ was some water bending." Sokka said, earning a smack on the back of the head from me, who heard the backhanded insult to his sister.

Aang was obviously out of tricks by the time we landed and he passed out. We hurried off Appa and rushed to his aide.

"Aang! Are you ok?" Katara asked his groaning form.

"Hey Katara, hey Sokka, hey Neela. Thanks for coming." Aang said pitifully.

"Well I couldn't let you have all the glory." Sokka told him jokingly.

"I dropped my staff." The kid nodded to where it landed.

Getting up I motioned to Aang, "Let's get him on Appa and get out of here." I suggested before jogging over to the staff. Picking it up I was almost pulled forward and onto my face by a hand tugging on the other end of it. I was thrust forward just enough to see the lead soldier's face connected to the hand. I had to hold onto the metal barrier next to me to support myself while trying to tug the staff out of his hands. Finally outlasting my patience, I smirked and prodded him three times on the head with the staff which forced him to let go.

"Get back here!" The soldier yelled angrily from his precarious position.

Walking proudly back to the others I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.

"Uh, guys. The sleeping beauties are waking up now." I nervously told them in a sing song voice, breaking out into a jog.

Katara collected the water and with a deep breath shot it out forcefully. Unfortunately for Sokka, who had come to help me earlier, he was in the line of fire and now frozen to the ship.

"Katara." I called out nervously again, picking at Sokka's ice with my weapon. "Try it the other way!"

She did as I recommended, right before a hand could reach out to grab her. Frantically, I helped Sokka out of his icy prison, shooting Katara a glare when she yelled back at us.

"Guys, hurry up!"

Sokka furiously jabbed at the ice with his weapon, "I'm just a guy with a boomerang. I didn't ask for all this flying, and magic." He muttered, getting angrier as he kept talking. I would have retorted that technically he signed up for this but he hit the last of the ice off at that moment. We ran towards Appa as fast as we could, "Yip yip! Yip yip!" Sokka said quickly as soon as we were close enough. With another groan Appa lifted his tail and shot into the sky. Looking back to the ship my eyes widened in shock.

"Incoming!" I yelled in warning. Aang ran to the back and swung his staff, causing a giant gust of air to misplace the fireball headed straight towards us. It was sent careening into a wall of ice and sent an avalanche to greet the ship. Everyone let out a collective sound of triumph at the glorious sight.

Turning to Aang I gave him a big smile, "You okay kid?"

"Yeah, that was kind of fun." He replied with an even bigger smile, one that seemed to fit his slightly large head.

"How did you do that? With the water? It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen." Katara gushed curiously.

"I don't know, I just did it." Aang told her quietly, obviously not liking this topic.

"Why didn't you tell us you were the avatar?" Katara asked, her tone taking the same as Aangs.

"Because…I never wanted to be."

We sat for a moment, waiting for him to talk about it. He turned away from us slightly and didn't elaborate.

"But Aang," Katara started, obviously not caring. "The worlds been waiting for the avatar to return and _finally_ put an end to this war."

"And how am I going to do that?" He questioned her nicely.

"According to legend you need to first master water, then earth, then fire right?" She asked kind of rhetorically.

"That's what the monks told me." Aang confirmed.

"Well, if we go to the North Pole you can master waterbending." Katara offered

"We can learn it together!" Aang gasped, suddenly cheering up.

"And Neela, Sokka I'm sure you'll get to knock some fire bender heads on the way." Katara bribed.

"I'd like that, I'd really like that." Sokka admitted happily, looking over at me with a smile. I sighed and nodded, but laughed at the spontaneity off all this.

"Then we're all in this together." Katara determined at last.

"All right. But before I learn water bending we some serious business to attend to," He told us and pulled out a map from absolutely nowhere. Showing us where he wanted to go with three little gestures. "Here, here, and here."

"What's there?" Katara pointed to one of the spots.

"Here we'll ride the hopping lamas, then way over here we'll surf on the backs of giant Koi fish, then back over here we'll ride the hog-monkeys. They don't like people riding them," He told us as Katara and Sokka gave each other a look. I nudged closer to the map to take a closer look at where we'll be going, jumping with excitement. "But that's what makes it fun." He finished.

"Aang," I told him happily, "I think this is going to be the beginning of a very beautiful friendship."

With that we launched into a detailed conversation about what all these activities were like, leaving Sokka to frown dubiously at our backs.

* * *

Well there's chapter two. Hopefully it didn't disappoint. Chapter three should be out within the week but don't hold me to it. Thanks for all your support and I can promise that the story will be picking up quickly from here.


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